News and events — January 2015

Students on the Nippon Foundation/GEBCO training programme have recently returned from a fact-finding visit to the US National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) in Boulder, Colorado, USA.

This has become an annual visit for students on the course and allows them to find out about the work of NGDC in the management and stewardship of marine data as well as learning about some of the products and services that they provide.

A number of informative presentations were made by Sue McLean and her team at the Marine Geology and Geophysics Division of NGDC, giving the students a good overview of the work that they do.

As part of the Nippon Foundation/GEBCO training programme students are required to carry out training/internships at scientific organisations from around the world. As well providing students with an insight into data management work, visits such as this to NGDC allows the students to start thinking about possible areas of interest for their internships at the end of the course.

The Nippon Foundation/GEBCO class appreciates the generosity of Sue and her team at NGDC for the effort they make in ensuring the success of this visit and to the Margaret Kendrick Blodgett Foundation for providing funding for the visit.

The Nippon Foundation/GEBCO Training Programme is a twelve-month course leading to a Postgraduate Certificate in Ocean Bathymetry (PCOB). It is held at the University of New Hampshire, USA and is helping to develop a new generation of seafloor mappers. The course is now in its 11th year. Funding for the programme is provided by the Nippon Foundation of Japan.